The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-06-12
MEXICAN MATTERS.
A NATIONAL BEVERAGE AND ITS
BIISSFUL RESULTS.
Water Not an Allowable Drink-A
Dav for Beggars- Tricks of the Trade


in Professional Mepdicancy.
From the Philadelphia Record.
CRY OF MEXICO, May 21.-Everybody
has heard of pulque, the national bever-
are' in this portion of the world-the fer
mented milk of that species of cacti known
TO Northerners as the century plant, or aloe
tAgave Americana, here called maguey.
Although there are more than 30, 900 licensed
puloue shops in the City of Mexico alone,
besides innumerable booths, stalls and bar
rooms where that and other beverages are
dispensed, and although the popular drink
costs but penny schooner" or &c. per
quart, the shops are all profitable. Very
little pulque is sold at wholesale, as most
Mexicans who make business of cultivat-
ing maguey maintain their own shops for
retailing it. A certain well-known aristo-
GRAFT of this city, who rides in his carriage
and is reckoned among the magnates of the
land, has five pulquerias, from which he is
said to derive the neat little income of $685.
600 per annum. According to official
statistics, a little more than sc, 900 gallons of
pulque are sold every day in the Mexican
Capital, and nearly double that amount on
Sundays and Saints days. Three special
trains laden with nothing but pulque run
daily into the City of Mexico from the near
by plains of Apam and Otumba, where
much maguey is cultivated. From this in
dustry alone the Federal government de-
rives revenue of 81 900 per diem in the
way of duties, and the railroads an equal
amount for transportation of the same.
A NATIONAL BLESSING.
What a field is this for the temperance
De- Il. Ia IL
to mind his own affairs, or to turn his at
tention elsewhere, for pulque is not only one
of the most healthful and harmless of bev-
erages but it is one of the few blessings
which the poor of Mexico enjoy, and
heaven knows their comforts are few
enough. Being not at all heavy in its effects,
the worst abuse of the blessing" leaves no
headache behind, but serves only to inten-
sify the gallantry of the guzzler, making
him sing and dance till the sleepy stage
comes on, showing his white teeth in con-
tinual laughter and hauling off his ragged
sombrero to passing ladies, with the most re-
spectful salaams Two cents worth of
pulque viii render the poorest peasant hap
pier than king, while &c. worth will secure
him the honor of being escorted by men
much higher in the social scale than him
self the police to the nearest carcel, and an
engagement to work for the government a
fortnight or so, to begin when he shall awake
next day, with beans and tortillas provided.
AS may be inferred, the government has no
lack of laborers on these easy terms, and
finds no difficulty in thus keeping the streets
well paved and similar public duties per-
formed.
SURPRISING EFFECTS OF LIQUOR.
While in moist climates one may imbibe
considerable quantities of the usual intoxi-
cants with comparative impunity, in these
higher attitudes of the tropics much
smaller dose is surprisingly harmful And
right here permit me to add that some I'M
fortunate Americans who have fallen into
disgrace because of undue conviviality at
the Mexican Capital really deserve COM
misseration rather than the contumely that
has been heaped upon them In most cases
they were the victims of ignorance on their
own part, or of sly practical jokes perpe-
trated by the Mexicans, who, however po-
lite they may appear, are at heart Jealous
of all Americans and delighted to put them
at a disadvantage. The same beverage
which gentlemen may use socially in the
North with no i'll effects, if partaken here in
equal measure first exhilarates the imbiber
beyond all account, and then leaves him for
days in a state of utter stupidity. Most
foreigners learn this only by sad expert
ence, and the ''gilded youth" of the capital
find great pleasure in initiating fresh sub
ject. especially if he come i'm the interests of
his government.
AMERICAN DRINKS NOT POPULAR.
OF course my own opportunities for OBJ
serving this phase of Mexican life are some
what limited; but l am told by an Ameri-
can journalist who certainly ought to
know that common WHISTLES and brandies,
which are never safe beverages in warm
countries, are here simply suicidal. The
Spaniards confine themselves to cognac and
sour wines, while Mexicans of the better
class always have claret at their home
tables with champagne, etc, for festive oc-
casions. American mixed drinks are not
popular, and, in fact, are scarcely known
below the Rio Grande, the scarcity of ice
making juleps, ETC., out of the question in
most portions of the country In the City
of Mexico ice may be procured; but as it all
comes from the summit of Popocatepet,
brought down on the backs of Indians to the
nearest railway station, one does not grum-
BILE at the price of the CONCEALED moisture
d5c. per pound, but wisely concludes to dis
pense with it.
EVEN WATER A FORBIDDEN BEVERAGE.
Strangers in Mexico are at first greatly
troubled with thirst, as rapid evaporation
renders the mouth and throat extremely
dry Water affords no relief, and is, with
al, more dangerous to indulge in than any
'tangle-foot" whose effects may be slept off
When we reflect that this old, old city, the
ancient Tenochtitlan of the early Aztecs,
has been the site of a populous city for more
than 600 years, and during all that time,
while empires have arisen and fallen,
dynasties decayed and myriads have lived,
died and been buried here, this cup-l;ke hol-
low, high up in the hills, has never been
drained, but, on the contrary, has been
drained into from all the surrounding
country, one has no disposition to taste the
waters of so vast charmed house. To be
sure, there is the living spring of Chapul-
tepec. still brought down to the capital by
that old Spanish aqueduct five miles long
and 300 years Old; but unless you live close
by one of its few fountains and see the
sweet pure water taken therefrom, you can
never be sure of what you are drinking.
The licensed carrier, who peddles water
from door TO door at the rate of a jarrito-
full for a tlaco Ia cent and half, is quite
as likely to have drawn it from some filthy
well filled with washings from the Campo
Santo. Other portions of this volcanic
country abound in such a conglomeration
of minerals and chemicals as to render the
water extremely dangerous, and the traveller
is warned that TO drink much of it may en-
tail incurable ills.
THE LEGEND OF PULQUE.
But to return TO the pulque. Il is as
amusing to note the efforts which newly ar
rived Americans make to say the word
(which should he pronounced rool- keel nc